"The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case filed by Norma McCorvey, known in court documents as Jane ROE, against Henry WADE, the district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987, who enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion, except to save a woman's life. Norma McCorvey was a Texas resident who sought to obtain an abortion. McCorvey was pregnant when she became the lead plaintiff in the case. She later gave up the baby for adoption. The Texas law had been declared unconstitutional in an earlier federal district court case (United States v. Vuitch, 1971). Wade ignored the decision and both sides appealed.”
The District Attorney for Dallas County (1951-1987) made a law that prohibited women to undergo abortion unless it was to save their lives. This same law was considered unconstitutional in the case of United States v. Vuitch 1971, explaining it violated Due Process of the Fourteenth Amendment which guarantees a woman’s right to abortion. I chose this specific case because it pertained to an important debate in regards to women’s civil rights. For many years women were oppressed by society. We were denied of basic rights such as voting, rights to property, work in certain occupations (ex. law & medicine), and have an education as no college or university would allow women. This case is important to woman’s rights as it sent the message to the entire nation that women have the right to make decisions over their body without fear of prosecution. Woman deserve to have all the same rights as men, without exception.
